Scott Walker knocks Mitt Romney in book

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker criticizes 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney in his new book, saying the candidate didn’t do enough to connect with voters or present his own positive vision for the country.

Walker says in the book that the GOP lost the election in large part because it did a “lousy job of presenting a positive vision of free market solutions to our nation’s problems in a way that is relevant to people’s lives,” according to the Associated Press, which obtained a copy of Walker’s book ahead of its Nov. 19 release.

He describes an email he sent to Romney during the 2012 campaign, encouraging him to do more to connect with voters and show emotion on the campaign trail, “like you did to the Olympic athletes” when Romney headed the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. The email, Walker writes, got no response.

Still, Walker had kinder words for Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Romney’s running mate, according to the AP. In the book, he describes Ryan as “one of the smartest and most decent people I know in or out of politics.”

Walker’s new book comes just under a year before he’s up for reelection in Wisconsin. He’s facing Democrat Mary Burke, a former Trek Bicycle executive, in the general election next year.

It also gives a window into Walker’s philosophy and thinking about a potential presidential bid of his own: the Wisconsin governor is often considered a prospect for 2016, though he says he’s “got [his] hands full” with his current job.